Week #1

My name is Payton Calvert and I am a rising sophomore at Wake Forest University. A key aspect of my personality is the desire for upward mobility. This is a detail that I did not realize before participating in the reflective CNS 120 course offered by the OPCD, however it has been eyeopening when identifying an occupational interests of mine. Before I began my college career, I really had no specific sense of direction concerning my career goals. I knew my interests and activities but had yet to funnel them into specific career oriented usage. After having gained the experience from my first year of college and being given the exceptional resources Wake Forest University offers it’s students, I have been able to identify an area of work that could offer a meaningful occupation: child oriented nonprofit work. This field coincides perfectly with my affinity for improvement because there are always children in need that require the intercession of a caring professional. I have worked with children throughout my adolescent years through my church and dance studio involvement and from these opportunities I have cultivated a desire to help and influence the lives of underprivileged children. I am a very driven and passionate person who truly wants the betterment of society and the individuals that make it up to be a main focus point in the work I pursue.

While interning with Hope for Gaston and The Dream Center, both of which are united under the public outreach at Bethlehem Church, I hope to gain a working knowledge of not only how a nonprofit organization operates, but also the differing branches of nonprofit work. Because the internship program I will be participating in offers me such a variety of perspectives, I feel this overview is an obtainable goal and will be extremely influential in my occupational decisions in the future. Another goal of mine is to reflect on my personal strengths and weaknesses throughout this internship to identify which nature of nonprofit work my skill set could best be used. I know I have a desire to make a difference, but that is a very broad and open-ended view point and I would love to be able to specify the details behind this desire at the end of the summer. Additionally I hope to make meaningful relationships with my coworkers and the community members I will be working with and to further identify needs in the area that are not currently being met. By doing this I will be discovering possible areas of future work that could offer opportunities for continued improvement of the area. Overall, I am entering this experience with an open mind and willingness to work to do whatever needs to be done. I look forward to the continuous opportunity for reflection that will take place in order for this experience to prove to be beneficial and effective in my future endeavors.